Just Another Day
by shieldmaidenofmithrilhall
Summary: It's just another day at Hogwarts, and James has just another chance to win Lily over. Not quite sure where it's going yet. And the T is for precaution, nothing bad yet.
1. One September Morning

**Disclaimer: I only own Huxley. And I'm picturing Mrs. Potter as kind of French, but I'm not sure why.  
**

**Just Another Day**

**Chapter 1: One September Morning**

One early September morning, James Potter was standing in front of his mirror, straightening his shirt.

"Hey, Lily," he said, into the mirror, enthusiastically.

"Hey… Lily…" this time in a low voice.

"Hola, Lily." The Potters had spent a week in Spain that summer, and James was desperately hoping that his command of the language would impress her. Unfortunately, this command of the Spanish language was "Hola", "Adios," and "Tengo hombre."

He turned, tried a different angle. "Hi-"

"James, dear!"

"MUM!" Mrs. Potter stuck her head around the door frame to see her son stick his hand in his hair.

"It's time to go." She pulled his hand out of the tangled black mass. "And don't do that."

"Dad does it."

"I know." She smiled. "I'm trying to break him of the habit."

"It won't work."

Mrs. Potter gave her son a hug. "I know that too. I'll miss you, James."

"Mother," he rolled his eyes and pulled away. "I'm seventeen. You've had seventeen years to hug me."

She laughed. "Last year you let me hug you for five seconds. This year it's down to three. What next, James?"

He looked at himself confidently in the mirror. "Next you'll be able to hug my girlfriend," but he couldn't help adding, _I hope._

* * *

The same early September morning, Sirius was standing in front of his mirror. Primping.

"Should my hair be loose or a bit tamer for the first day," he asked, seemingly to himself.

"Why should I care?" came a morose voice from the corner.

Sirius turned. "Oh, Huxley, you should care because when I'm happy, other people are happy. Maybe if I was really really really happy, you might be a tad bit happy too."

"That would take a miracle," said Huxley. Huxley was a picture that Sirius had painted that summer when he was bored. He was done in the usual Sirius Black style: incredibly detailed, and yet it looked as though the artist had a whip at their heels. Everything had been drawn in quickly, and as a result of this, Huxley had ended up with a bit of a squashed head, a small unibrow, and one eye slightly bigger than the other. This made any creature confronted with Sirius' mirror on an every day basis extremely irritable.

The portrait sighed. "I'm just glad that I'll get rid of you for a little while."

Sirius looked shocked. "Get rid of me? Huxley, I'd never abandon you to the horrors of this home! You are a friend to me, a true Marauder, and Marauders never desert each other! You can't expect me to just leave!"

"Oh. I think I just felt for my heart speeding up. Do you think that's a sign of happiness?"

Sirius jumped up and down. "Huxley, I made you happy! I'm so excited! I've tried for months, and I finally succeeded."

"Calm down. It left as soon as you went into the, 'I'll never abandon you' spiel."

"Oh." Sirius looked disappointed. There's only one thing to do when you're disappointed, he thought, turning back to the mirror.

"Hey, Huxley, what about this shirt? Do you think the color makes the right statement?"

There was no noise from the painting. Then he heard, "Sirius, I'm going to try to commit suicide. I just thought you should know."

This news did not bother the seventeen year old case study of vanity. "Alright, Huxley. What about these pants?"

There was a crash. Then a moan. "You put a shatter-proof charm on this glass, didn't you?"

Sirius didn't hear him.

* * *

Yet again, at that same time, on that same September morning, Lily Evans was walking out the door, running over her mental checklist. 

1. Wake up, 5:45. Don't want to be late. Check

2. Take a nice long shower to finish said waking up process. Leave no hot water for Petunia. Check

3. Finish packing my trunk. Check. (Actually, there was nothing else to pack as she'd packed it all the night before).

4. Get a book or two to read on the train. Check.

5. Make sure it's Austen. Check

6. Eat breakfast. Check.

7. Wait patiently for mum at the car. In progress

8. Try not to do anything stupid. Check. So far.

* * *

**Alright, tell me if you want more**

* * *


	2. Arrival

**You wanted more? You got more. Thanks to my reviewers! I love you all!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, no charachters, and probably not alot of the plot because its hard to write L/J and be original. **

Just Another Day

Chapter 2: Arrival

In the car, Lily was trying hard to focus on one thing in particular. _I'm too excited to just be going back to school_, she thought. _You'd think I'm getting married_. But she had every right to be happy. She was head girl, Lily was glowing about that, and being alienated from the wizard world for two months had been really hard, but what she was really excited about was seeing all her friends again. It had been weeks since they'd said goodbye, as both Dawn and Sabina had been gone, visiting family in various parts of the world.

She thought jealously about the adventures they'd had. Sabina had family in all of Italy, and had owled Lily continuously about the beautiful views and how happy she was to see everyone.

Dawn, on the other hand, had been "forced to my Siberia, the United States," but she'd evidently met a football player there, so it turned out all right.

Lily had stayed home. Her father's job was taking him away from home a lot, and she understood that right now her family couldn't afford huge vacations. Which was fine, but she wished that she'd have better stories to trade other than, "I babysat a lot," or "I got a job at this bakery three blocks from my house."

"I'm going to miss you, Lily," said Mrs. Evans.

"I know, mum." Lily smiled. She would miss her mom a lot at Hogwarts. They had gotten close over the past few summers, probably because Lily was out of the house for the majority of the year, so they kept their short weeks together fighting free. "I'll miss you too. But I am really excited to see Dawn and Sabina again."

"I'm so glad that you have nice friends, Lily. Good friends who make good choices are so important at this point in your life." Lily laughed. Her mother was always concerned about Lily making good choices, even though she had no history of being very rebellious in the past.

"Oh, mum, pullover! We're at the exit!" cried Lily.

"Calm down," muttered her mother. "Don't jump out of the car just yet."

"Sorry… I forgot myself." Lily laughed. "Just because I'm a witch doesn't mean I can fly. But I'm just so happy, mum!"

"I know, Lily," said Mrs. Evans quietly. "You've practically been bouncing the whole way here."

Lily blushed, but had nothing to say. Instead, she grinned as the car pulled into the parking lot and bounded out, pulling her luggage out of the trunk.

"Lily dear, if you aren't careful, you'll" Mrs. Evans winced as her daughter dropped her owl's cage, "drop something."

"Sorry, mum."

Mrs. Evans smiled as Lily continued to stack her things at haphazard angles atop each other, loosing the cage again as they started to move.

* * *

"JAMES POTTER! JAIME MIGUEL PRONGS POTTER!" 

James rolled his eyes as he followed the voice on Platform 9 ¾. "Hello, Sirius," he said, coming up behind his obnoxious best friend.

"PRONGS!" cried Sirius. "You made it! I doubted you would."

"Miguel?"

Sirius laughed. "I thought you'd like a new name."

"Thanks, but next time, let me decide what middle name I have. Now everyone's going to think I'm Spanish or something."

The mad boy grinned. "Is that bad? Besides, I thought you were trying to impress Miss Little Lilikins with your bilingualism."

"Prongs is bilingual?" asked Remus Lupin, coming up behind his best friends. "Congratulations, James, you did something with your summer."

"Don't insult me with suggesting I learned something over summer, Moony."

"Oh, Remus, you didn't let me shout your name!" whined Sirius. "How about you go stand fifteen feet away, and I can pretend like I didn't see you."

"I'll pass, thanks."

"But I came up with the best name: Remus Liechester Moonimus Lupin."

James snorted.

"Shut it, _Miguel_," growled Moonimus.

"It's better than Liechester Lupin. Honestly, Padfoot. That sounds like the scientific name of some plant."

But Sirius wasn't listening. "Hey, Prongs, isn't that Miss Lilikins coming at us right now?"

"What?"

It was true. Lily was walking straight toward them.

"Now would be the time to speak, Prongs," prompted Remus.

"Hey, Lily," said James, wondering if it was the right tone of voice. "How was your summer?"

"It was nice, thanks for asking." She smiled at him. _Lily smiled at me!_, he thought. "I'm glad to be back, though. Hey, I was wondering if any of you had seen Dawn or Sabina. I just got here, and I've been dying to see them all summer."

"I bumped into Georgie a few minutes ago," said Sirius. It was Dawn's Quidditch nickname, her last name being Georgiano. "She looked pretty good."

"From you, Sirius, that could mean anything, and I'm not even going to ask," laughed Lily. "So nothing of Bina?"

"I saw her over by the engine, actually," volunteered Remus.

"Thanks so much, guys," said Lily, ready to turn away.

"No problem. Sorry we couldn't have been more of a help," said James.

"Hey, Miss Lily," jumped in his womanizing friend, "if you girls need a compartment, why don't you come join ours. It's…"

"Number Seven, I know. It's the one you always have. Well, if we wouldn't be intruding…"

She didn't see Sirius hit James.

"No! We'd love to have you," he rallied.

"That'd be lovely. Okay, well I guess I'll see you guys later than. Thanks!" She disappeared through the press of students.

Sirius grabbed his trunk and started to haul it towards the train. "Nice, Prongs," he muttered. "Make me do everything."

"Hey, it's not my fault," cried James running after him.

"Of course it is! James, just because you like her doesn't mean you're a leper. You're allowed to sit with her."

"She doesn't hate you or anything," added Remus. "After all, she approached you."

"Us, she approached us."

"Right, well I was hoping you hadn't noticed that."

* * *

Lily ran up to the scarlet engine where she saw her best friends waiting. "Dawn! Bina!" she cried, wrapping them in a hug. 

"Lily!" Dawn squealed. Dawn Georgiano was a tall athletic blonde whose blue eyes sparkled whenever she was about to do a bad thing. Strangely enough, this happened a lot.

"Hey, Lils," said Sabina, much more collectedly. Lily loved that about her friend Sabina Beru, she was always much calmer than Dawn. Her straight black hair framed her face, and her dark eyes were looking mischievous. "Why are you so happy?"

"Well, I haven't seen either of you in much too long of a time to recall."

"No," persisted Sabina. "Not that kind of happy. More like, 'the Marauders just spoke to me,' happy."

"Oh. There's a reason for that."

"Spill."

The whistle blew a long, shrill blast.

"Come on. I'll show you guys. Accio trunk!" Lily winced as her baggage narrowly missed a first year.

"Lily!" cried James. "Do you want help with your things?"

"Are you guys being gentlemen?" asked Dawn, smiling.

"But of course, Georgie," said Sirius, bowing before her. "You didn't expect us to neglect three such lovely ladies as yourselves."

"Au contraire. I most certainly did. You've never been so chivalrous at Quidditch."

"Well, that's Quidditch. Besides, you don't like us babying you."

Dawn brushed this thought aside as she thoughtfully watched Remus grab all Sabina's luggage. "So, why are you doing this?"

"Didn't Lily tell you?" asked James, watching her red curls bounce as she fervently shook her head. "Oh. Well, you're sharing a compartment with us."

"What?"

Both Sabina and Dawn stared at Lily. "How was that decided?" asked Sabina quietly.

"Sirius asked, and I accepted," she answered. Lily had no idea why it was such a big deal. "Hey we'd better board now if we want to get there at all."

"No kidding," said James, as the whistle blew again, as a last call.

As they made their way to Compartment 7, Dawn commented, "I bet there's about fifty girls on this train that would kill to be in your compartment."

"I find honesty is the best policy, Georgie," said Sirius. "And therefore, I believe you're right."

He grinned until she slapped him.

It was true, though. As the three Marauders walked through the train with Lily and company in tow, there was many a jealous glance at the girls, and in one case, Sabina put up a shield charm at just the right time.

"Sabina dear, did you happen to see who it was that just threw that hex at you?" asked Sirius sweetly.

"I'm afraid to tell you."

"Why?" He seemed shocked.

"Because you four would do something much worse to them."

"I saw who it was, Padfoot," volunteered Remus.

"Who was it, Moons?"

"I can't tell you if it goes against Miss Beru's wishes."

Sirius groaned as they reached the compartment. "Goodness, a suggestion like, 'Let's have a little chivalry around here' really goes to your guy's heads."

"I like it," commented Lily.

_She likes chivalry_, thought James. _I have yet to find out if she is impressed by bilingualism._

"I appreciate the gesture as well, Black," laughed Dawn, "but would appreciate immensely more if you would get out of the compartment door and let us enter."

He didn't hear her. His face had gone green.

"Sirius? Earth to Sirius?"

He pointed.

In the corner, Peter was kissing a fourth year girl, who only seemed to be half interested in what she was doing.

In unison, James, Remus, and Sirius cleared their throats. When this did nothing, James called, "Oy, Wormtail, take the love fest outside. At least when we snog we don't do it in front of fellow Marauders."

"That's not always true," Remus muttered, but was silenced by a look from Sirius.

"Alright, Veronica, lets go," he said. She looked disappointed to be leaving just when the important Marauders got there, but allowed herself to be led out, and only as a second thought she threw a wink at the boys.

"Who was that for?" Sirius called back after her. "I don't see any cheaters in here."

"You don't cheat on your girlfriends, Black?" asked Dawn, sitting down.

"No. I might dump them at an abnormally fast rate, but I never have cheated on one."

"Do you believe him?" Dawn asked Sabina.

She nodded. "I put a truth charm on the room, just in case."

"Just in case of what?"

"Just… in case."

While the others were talking, James turned to Lily, an awkward smile on his face. "So…"

Thankfully, she rescued him. "So, earlier you asked me how my summer was. How as yours?"

"It was all right, I guess. We went to Spain for a while."

"Really?" Lily seemed really interested. He wasn't used to this. Like Remus had said, it wasn't like she hated him, but they never talked. "What'd you do?"

"We went to the Prado, which was interesting, for a muggle museum, and did a lot of walking around."

"I want to go to the Prado so badly," sighed Lily. "So, do you speak any Spanish?"

"Yes?"

"Really? Show me."

James mumbled something.

"What was that?"

He realized suddenly that being bilingual meant you had to know more than three phrases. "Hola, adios, y tengo hambre."

Lily laughed. "Hello, good bye, and you're hungry? What else?"

"I can speak a lot more, but I wouldn't want you to be jealous."

"Right. This is me bursting with jealousy, James." Lily glanced down at her watch and grabbed her bag. "Hey guys, I have to go, I'll see you all in about half an hour, okay."

James watched as she disappeared down the hallway, then sat down and opened up a magazine.

"Where did Lily go?" asked Remus.

"Some meeting," answered Sabina.

Sirius looked up from his conversation with Dawn. "Hey, Prongs, don't you have something disciplinary to do? Like stopping future Marauders from having fun on the train?"

"Or getting Slytherins in trouble?" asked Remus.

"Since when have any of you Marauders been interested in discipline?" asked Sabina.

"Since James became head boy."

There was a stunned silence, and an exchange of meaningful looks between the girls.

Finally, Dawn whispered, "Lily's head girl."

James jolted up. "Um, I have a meeting to go to," said James. "I must've forgotten." Every noticed the spring in his step as he ran out the door.

"So," said Sirius, holding his fingertips together in what he thought was a calculating way. "Miss Lilikins is head girl? This certainly is an interesting development."


	3. Meetings and Duels

**A/n: I spelled duel wrong on purpose.**

**Disclaimer: I own Dawn and Sabina**

Just Another Day

Chapter 3: Meetings of Many Kinds

James approached the front compartment where a conference table had been set up. He could hear Lily speaking to the group, answering all their questions.

"No, I do not know who the head boy is," she said, "however, I hope he gets himself in here in the next minute, or…"

James smirked as he strode in. "Sorry I'm late. I got lost on the way."

"Aren't you a little old for a prefect, Potter?" spit out a sixth year Slytherin.

He was so proud of his lack of reaction: he didn't even glare. "Sorry, Berkley. I forgot to mention, I'm head boy."

There was a dramatic gasp from all the girls except Lily. James smiled appreciatively at them.

"No!" cried Berkley. "You can't both be Griffindors."

"Both Griffindors?" James appeared to notice Lily for the first time. "Oh, congratulations, Lily, I always knew you'd make it."

"Thanks," she smiled. "Now, we need to get down to business." At the collective groan, she promised, "it isn't very much.

"All we need is for all of you to sign up for patrol shifts, as well as take this sheet of parchment with a list of the following meetings. There should be one about every two weeks. Anything else, James?"

"Only this: Quidditch teams have mandatory try-outs this year, even if the team is already full. I'm not sure why they have this new rule, but if we all abide by it, it will make everyone's first week back easier."

"Who are the Quidditch captains this year?" asked a Hufflepuff girl. "I want to be able to tell the right person."

"I'm the Griffindor captain," said James. "Berkley is the Slytherin captain, I believe. And then its…"

"Jacqueline Milconiwitz and Richard Lummadue for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, respectively," said Lily.

James was speechless.

"If that's all, you can go now," she said, a bit awkwardly, now that she had a Marauder staring at her. As soon as they all filed out, she asked him. "What?"

"Since when has Lily Evans become a Quidditch expert?"

"Since Lily Evans became head girl. And Lily Evans has a question for you."

"Ask away."

"Since when has James Potter cared about being head boy?"

"Are you disappointed that you get to share a room with me?"

"No… I… WHAT?"

James smiled. "You didn't know that the heads of the houses share a private room?"

"No one _told_ me."

"It's just one of those Hogwarts legends. It thought everyone knew."

"If it's a legend, how do you know it exists?"

He looked down, a bit embarrassed. "We found it fourth year."

Lily laughed. "I should have expected that. So… where is it?"

"You know the broom cupboard in the prefect's bathroom?" She nodded. "Well, if you're the right person, like the head boy or girl, or a guest, -"

"Or someone who is under a polyjuice potion?"

"Or someone in that circumstance, yes," allowed James, "the door opens into a common room with two bedrooms and bathrooms off to the side."

"It sounds big for two people."

"The heads are rarely there. They both have beds in their old dorms, so they can stay with their mates if they choose. Or if the other becomes an insufferable git. Or if they were dating and break up. There are lots of different reasons to keep a separate bed."

"Well, since its so big, do you want to have a party tonight?"

James smiled. "This from Miss Lily Evans, the perfect head girl?"

"I'm not perfect."

"I think you are."

Lily flushed bright red and didn't seem to have anything to say, but glancing at James she realized he was blushing too. They seemed to have the same idea, and both moved to the door of the prefect compartment, crashing into each other.

"Sorry," he muttered.

Though she was highly embarrassed, Lily was able to laugh at the situation. "Now this is a horrible beginning," she said. "If my roommate won't speak to me, I'm sure no one else will. So, are we having a party or not?"

"I'll bring butterbeer," said James weakly, grateful that she had changed the subject. "I could get it by 9:15."

"The feast ends at 8:30."

"Yes?"

"And Professor Dumbledore will want to speak with us afterward…"

"And…"

"And that will take at least until 9:00."

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "So Sirius will be getting the butterbeer."

"Sorry to spoil all your fun so soon. But I didn't ask how you were going to get the butterbeer."

"That is an improvement, I guess," he said, though he looked a bit disappointed. "Aren't you the slightest bit curious?"

"My dear James, the curiosity is overpowering. As is the instinct to turn you in."

"You wouldn't."

"I've been working at this for six years. I wouldn't have a choice."

"You can't fight with that logic," said James, coming up to the door. He then made a noisy show of rattling the door handle, and loudly said, "Hey, Lily, I'm glad we got that over with," before he pushed the door open.

"What was that for?"

"So we don't have to endure their painfully bad explanations of what they weren't doing." In fact, this was exactly what Sirius had been prepared to give, had James not conveniently notified him of his presence.

"Alright, cards on the table," he'd said, as soon as James had left the compartment. "James likes Lily."

"Really?" Dawn rolled her eyes. "I hadn't noticed. None of the, 'Gerogie, what's Lily doing today?' 'Is Lily going home for Christmas?' 'I didn't see Lily at breakfast, is she sick?' gave me a clue."

"Georgie, sarcasm like that is bad for your health," said Sirius, rolling his eyes at her. "Now that they're sharing a room and everything, he won't have to ask you that anymore. _And _I'm starting a betting pool to see how long it will take for her to fall for Miguel's charm."

"Miguel?" Sabina raised an eyebrow.

Remus tried to speak through his laughter. "It's his… middle name… doesn't…. want others… to know."

"I thought it was Michael. He told Lily last year."

"That's exactly what he tells everyone," said Sirius with a completely straight face. "Anyway, Bina dear, you are the lucky one to place the first bet."

Dawn scoffed. "Lucky? Honestly, Bina, you're not going to humor this latest trend towards insanity are you?"

Sabina blushed lightly at her friend's disapproval, but her dark eyes were determined. "Three knuts says two weeks," she said, handing the money to Sirius.

"Two weeks?" Dawn was seething that they'd bet on her best friend.

"She already likes him," answered Sabina meekly.

"Five knuts for two months," said Remus, throwing his money at his friend, "because anyone who likes James and order needs time to choose between the two of them."

"Fine. Four knuts says Christmas. If I know Lily, choosing between order and James has the potential to take a long time," sighed Dawn, knowing she'd lost. "Happy now?" she asked, throwing her head back and resting her feet on the seat across from her.

"Thrilled, Georgie," answered Sirius. "And though I know I'll loose money, I have to say one week, because my buddy Prongs will beat me senseless if I don't."

"He wouldn't, would her?" asked Sabina, with a hint of concern in her voice.

Sirius and Remus shared a glance. "Miguel? Nah, he's a head boy at heart. If stupid and prone to bouts of insanity at times."

"No wonder you two are such good friends," muttered Dawn.

"Just take a nap, Georgie. We've got tryouts next week."

"I don't know how you feel about your spot on the team, Black, but I think mine's pretty firm…"

"It's a new rule that Madame Hooch is enacting this year. Don't ask me why."

"My dear Sirius, I'm never going to ask you anything again. Does anyone know what time it is?"

"Nice resolution, Georgie, but the time is 10:45."

"Gah!" The skilled chaser lobbed a book at his head.

He caught it and looked at the title. "Hmmm…_Sense and Sensibility_… learning anything?"

"It's Lily's book!"

There was a rattle at the door, and the heads of the houses walked in, apparently unnoticed by the four already in the compartment. Sirius was whispering with Remus, though James heard the words, "bet," and "more money," from their corner of the compartment. Sabina was watching them with curiosity, and Dawn was lounging, reading _Sense and Sensibility_, much to Sirius' amusement.

Suddenly Sabina seemed to notice them. "Oh, hello, Lily. How'd the meeting go?"

"Lovely," she smiled. "Though Berkley gave us a little trouble."

"My dear Lady Lilikins," cried Sirus, "as a knight of Griffindor, I swear to defend thee.

He earned an odd look from his lady and a kick from James. "Up, cur!" he cried to the latter, in a thick and horrible French accent. "For thine insult upon my honor, I shall have at thee!"

James began to talk through his nose. "Ah, so you challenge me to a deual?"

"Your perception es better zan your accent!"

"Fortunately, my fencing skills are better as well," he cried, creating a wooden sword, lunging at Sirius, who summoned blunted scimitars to either hand. They brought the fight out into the hallway and gathered quite a crowd.

Bringing his sword up, then cutting down to his friend's feet, James felt he had won. "The parry's wrong!" thought Sirius, but it didn't matter, he wasn't playing to win. He felt his legs go out from under him. "It's only a flesh wound!" he bellowed.

"Yeah, right," said James, throwing a devastating blow under Sirius' arm.

"No!" Sirius miraculously regained the use of his legs and stumbled back against a compartment wall several down from the Marauder's compartment. "James! We were… friends."

James bowed his head in remorse for his "late" friend, then marched back to where Lily was watching. "My lady," he said, dropping to one knew and kissing her hand.

"Oh brave knight!" she said, laughing, and gave him her handkerchief.

"I wear it always, next to my heart," he said, folding it and placing it in his shirt pocket.

"Sir James," she sighed, taking his arm, "what about Sir Sirius?"

"He lived a good life, madam," said James, without turning around. "He lived a good life." And with that, they retired back to compartment seven, with Sirius watching them go.

"I am so good," he muttered to himself. "If there isn't a holiday for me someday, I'll kill myself so there will be one."

_But then you'll be dead,_ he thought.

"Yes, that would be a blow."

_Well, you can have a near death experience, barely recover, and then save the world._

"Yes! That sounds like a good plan, Sirius." He smiled to himself, and then grinned suggestively at a fifth year girl who happened to be walking past. She almost swooned.

He laughed out loud. "I am so a god."


End file.
